American Beauty

             American Beauty is one of the best films I have ever seen. The Academy gave the movie a "Picture of the Year" award, among other honors. There are many good uses of cinematography throughout the film. I will be describing how cinematography is used to enhance what is happening in that particular scene.
             The theme in American Beauty is suburban life. It's all there, the self-centered good-looking blonde, the morbid unattractive teenage daughter. The similar houses with gardens and perfect grass, and the streets are lined with oak trees. The Burnhams have two cars; a sedan and an SUV. It's the American Nightmare. Nobody is happy, but they pretend to be. It is a world where material possessions mean more in life than actual people. It's a perfect satire on suburbia.
             There are several scenes that are shot using a video camera, which is primarily used by Ricky Fitz, the boy next door. The use of these shots helps the viewer to see the world through Ricky's eyes. It's a world that is from a very different outlook. He sees beauty in ways that many other people wouldn't. By using these shots the viewer sees what Ricky is. How he can see the beauty in Jane, a beauty that she can't even see until meeting him. There isn't any sound in most of these scenes, except when Jane talks to him. In the scene where Jane is showing him his breast from her bedroom window, he doesn't even really looks at her breasts; he just zooms in on her face. This shows how different of an outlook he has compared to the normal guy. I can bet that most men, including me, were interested in seeing her breasts, but he thinks that she is beautiful so he would rather see her expression.
             There are many shots that are close up. This helps to amplify the actors emotions and their performance overall. With such great acting this technique is very effective in getting the viewer to feel the emotions th...

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